Increase Your Three Types of Energy

By: Brian Tracy

Most successful people can be characterized as having very high levels of energy. Since energy is the fuel with which everything is achieved, there seems to be a direct relationship between energy levels and levels of accomplishment. It is hard to imagine a tired, burned-out person achieving much in life. On the other hand, energetic, positive, forward-moving individuals seem to get and enjoy far more of the things life has to offer than does the average person.

Physical Energy is Basic
We have been led to believe that there is basically one kind of energy. We supposedly replenish this energy by sleeping at night, and during the day, we use it up again. It is as though we are machines powered by batteries, and each night we recharge our batteries for seven or eight hours. However, there are some problems with this view of energy. The biggest problem is that it does not deal with the fact that there are actually three different kinds of energy, each of which is necessary for maximum performance.

The three main forms are physical energy, emotional energy, and mental energy. Each of these energies is different, but they are interrelated, and they depend on each other.

The Sweat of Your Brow
Physical energy is raw energy, coarse energy, bulk energy, what we call "meat-and-potatoes" energy. Your physical energy is what you use to do physical labor. It is the primary energy applied by men and women who earn their livings by the sweat of their brow.


The Source of Enthusiasm
The second form of energy is emotional energy. This is the energy of enthusiasm and excitement. This is the energy that lends sparkle to the life of an individual. This is the energy that is necessary for feeling love, happiness, and joy. Largely, it is your emotional energy that makes life enjoyable for you. In fact, almost everything you say and do is determined in some way by an emotion, either positive or negative.

The Requirement for Creativity
Mental energy is the energy of creativity, of problem solving and decision making. You use mental energy to make sales, write reports and proposals, plan your day and your week, and learn new subjects. Your level of mental energy is a major determinant of the quality of your life.

Conserve Your Best Energies
The reason why most people fail to realize their potential in life and work is because they burn up their energy at the emotional level, or the physical level; therefore, they have very little energy left over for mental activities. Most people burn up their emotional energy through the expression of negative emotions. Negative emotions are like a fire that burns up their energy so quickly that they have very little left with which to think positively and constructively. In fact, one five-minute uncontrolled outburst of anger can burn up as much energy as an average person would use in eight hours of work.

Your job is to think continually about how you can stay calm and positive, and work smoothly and efficient, so you can have more mental energy to do the things that are most important to you in life.

Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, take time to identify the different ways that you either use up or deplete your levels of physical, emotional and mental energy. How could you improve in each area?

Second, be sure to get plenty of healthful, nutritious food so you can keep your physical energy at high levels. This is the key to all other energies.

Third, look for ways to conserve your emotional energies by being more relaxed and optimistic in the face of daily problems and disappointments.

The more energy you have, the happier and more productive you will be.

Make Your Life a Masterpiece

By Brian Tracy

This is the age of achievement. Never have more people accomplished more things in more different fields than they are accomplishing today. More people are becoming successful at a faster rate than at any other time in history. There have never been more opportunities for you to turn your dreams into realities than there are right now.

The Seven Ingredients of Success
Your ideal life is a blending these seven ingredients in exactly the combination that makes you the happiest at any particular moment. By defining your success and happiness in terms of one or more of these seven ingredients, you create a clear target to aim it. You can then measure how well you're doing. You can identify the areas where you need to make changes if you want your life to improve.

Peace of Mind
The first of these seven ingredients of success, and easily the most important, is peace of mind. It is the highest human good. Without it, nothing else has much value. In corporations, peace of mind can be measured in terms of the amount of harmony that exists among coworkers. The wonderful truth about peace of mind is that it is your normal natural condition. It is the basic precondition for enjoying everything else.

Health and Energy
The second ingredient of success is health and energy. Just as peace of mind is your normal and natural mental state, health and energy is your normal and natural physical state. If you achieve all kinds of things in the material world, but lose your health then you will get little or no pleasure from your other accomplishments. So imagine yourself enjoying perfect health, and think of how you would be if you were your ideal image of physical fitness. Then strive for your mental goal of fitness and health.


Loving Relationships
The third ingredient of success is loving relationships. These are relationships with the people you love and care about, and the people who love and care about you. They are the real measure of how well you are doing as a human being. At almost any time, you can measure how well you are doing in your relationship by one simple test: laughter. This is true for companies as well. High-performance, high profit organizations are those in which people laugh and joke together. Examine your relationships, one by one, and develop a plan to make each of them enjoyable and satisfying.

Financial Freedom
The fourth ingredient of success is financial freedom. Achieving your financial freedom is one of the most important goals and responsibilities of your life. A feeling of freedom is essential to the achievement of any other important goal, and you cannot be free until and unless you have enough money so that you are no longer preoccupied with it. When you decide exactly what you want your financial picture to look like, you will be able to use this system to achieve your goals faster than you might have imagined possible.

Worthy Goals and Ideals
The fifth ingredient of success is worthy goals and ideals. To be truly happy, you need a clear sense of direction. You need to feel that your life stands for something, that you are somehow making a valuable contribution to your world.

Self Knowledge and Self-Awareness
The sixth ingredient of success is self-knowledge and self-awareness. To perform at your best you need to know who you are and why you think and feel the way you do. It is only when you understand and accept yourself that you can begin moving forward in other areas of your life.

Personal Fulfillment
The seventh ingredient of success is personal fulfillment. This is the feeling that you are becoming everything that you are capable of becoming. It is the sure knowledge that you are moving toward the realization of your full potential as a human being.

Action Exercise
Take the brush of your imagination and begin painting a masterpiece on the canvas of your life. It is for you to decide clearly what would make you the happiest in everything you are doing. 

The Importance of Solitude

by Dr. Napoleon Hill


I love my family and my friends. My love for them is deep and sincere. I would do anything within my power to add to their comfort and welfare . . . but, I also love to get away from the crowds, away from everybody and visit with myself. This may seem rather selfish, but it isn't. My mental development demands it.

I love to think, to look ahead and anticipate the experiences yet to come in my life, to figure out why I am here and what to do to fulfill my read mission in life. I love to go just a step further in imagination than I have ever gone in realization. In other words, I love to do what many call "dreaming.”

Contrary to what some may believe, dreaming is not harmful. In fact, quite the reverse is true. Getting away from others to dream allows you to rise above commonplace thoughts and things.

Milton did his best work after blindness forced him to turn to solitude for realization.
Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star Spangled Banner" while being held as a prisoner of war on a British ship.

When we are with others, we must be polite and discuss with them whatever subject they may happen to bring up. When we are with ourselves, we can direct our thoughts along any line we choose and concentrate upon those thoughts, impress them upon our minds and keep them where we may get them when we want them.

This is constructive dreaming!

No one ever becomes a "doer" without first becoming a "dreamer." The architect first draws the picture of a building in his mind and then places it on paper. And so we must all see the object of our labors in our minds before we can see them in reality.

Source: Adapted from the March 1919 issue of Napoleon Hill’s Golden Rule magazine as appearing in the April, 1994, Volume 6, Number 4 issue of Think and Grow Rich Newsletter. Pg. 5.

5 Ways To Be Happy

5 Ways To Be Happy

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Expect less.

5. Have a deeper relationship with God.

A Lesson from Nature

by Napoleon Hill

Everything, animate or inanimate, starts out as a nucleus – a whirling bit of energy which, although so small as to defy the lens of the microscope, has the power to attract to itself whatever of a like nature it requires for its sustenance and growth.

Remember the acorn and the handful of earth. Locked up within that acorn is the germ of life, the nucleus which is capable of drawing from its surrounding elements of soil, air, water, and sunlight, the materials to build an oak tree.
Take a seed of corn or wheat; plant it in the ground and it will create a center of activity which attracts from its environment the precise balance of chemical constituents which will produce a cornstalk, or a stalk of wheat, and bring forth a reproduction of itself, according to the law of growth and increased returns.

These analogies help us to get a true picture of the power of the mind through self-suggestion. You can see how it is possible to sow a seed of desire with the subconscious mind through conscious expressed repetition of this desire . . . to feed and nourish this seed by the stimulus of high emotion . . . to germinate it by the sunshine of faith, and thus to attract to yourself from the bounteous supply of life energy in Infinite Intelligence the practical plans whereby that original seed of desire may be developed into its physical counterpart.

The law of attraction is based upon the principle of growth from the vitality which is inherent in the seed (idea or desire) itself. Every seed has, in itself, a potentially perfect plant. Every worthy desire has in it the potential power for its perfect fulfillment. If a seed is to germinate and produce a crop after its own kind, it must be planted in fertile soil, it must have nourishment, and it must have sunshine to ripen it for harvest.

Your subconscious mind can be compared to a fertile garden spot wherein may be planted the seed of your definite purpose, by means of a burning desire which imparts the initial energy into the nucleus of your definite purpose, and causes it to enlarge and grow. Now we have explained how the seed may be nourished and cultivated by persistent action according to your plans and through repeated instructions to your subconscious. Also how you may attract the vitalizing influence of Infinite Intelligence and focus it on the object of your desire. Here you have the whole process laid before you. It is a process which is going on all around you in countless forms of life. It is not a matter of theory. It is a demonstrated fact. You have only to adapt it to y our own definite purpose.

Source: PMA Science of Success Course. Pgs. 106 & 107.

Peace of Mind Can Be Attained Only By a Positive Mental Attitude

by Napoleon Hill 

Peace of mind is one of the most sought after blessings in life. As is true of everything of value, you must pay a price to obtain it. And the price required is the continual and consistent maintenance of a positive mental attitude. If you will pay this price, you will receive the following blessings, all of which result in peace of mind:

• Freedom from want.
• Freedom from superstition.
• Freedom from fear in all of its forms.
• Freedom from the common weakness of seeking something for nothing.
• The habit of doing your own thinking.
• The habit of frequent self-inspection from within, to determine what changes of character are necessary.
• The habit of developing sufficient courage and inherent honesty with yourself to look at life as a realist.
• The habit of discouraging both greed and the desire for power at the expense of others.
• The habit of helping others to help themselves.
• Recognition of the truth that the universal power of Infinite Intelligence is available to all who will learn how to use it.
• Freedom from anxiety over what may happen to you after death.
• Freedom from all desire for revenge.
• The habit of going the extra mile in all human relationships.
• Knowledge of yourself – the you which cannot be seen in a mirror; an understanding of who you are and what your virtues and abilities are.
• Freedom from discouragement.
• The habit of thinking in terms of your highest and noblest objectives.
• The habit of looking for the seed of equivalent benefit in every adversity.
• The habit of taking life in your stride, neither shrinking from the disagreeable nor over-indulging in the pleasant.
• The habit of starting where you stand to accomplish your goals.
• The habit of conquering petty misfortunes rather than being mastered by them.
• The joy of doing, rather than merely possessing.
• The habit of making life pay off on your terms, in values of your choosing.
• The habit of giving before trying to get.
• The privilege of engaging in a labor of love of your own choice.

These are some of the joys which one receives from peace of mind by exercising a positive mental attitude. A review of this list will also convince you that men with positive mental attitudes are never found in a rut. And it will also be evident to you that another blessing which can be achieved by maintaining a positive mental attitude is the attainment of success in your chosen field of endeavor.

Source: PMA Science of Success. Pgs. 235 & 236.

Stone Walls

by: Napoleon Hill

  You are an unusual person if you never came to what seemed to be a stone wall that stood between you and achievement.

Lately I have been studying the lives of Lincoln, Socrates, Plato, Napoleon and some of the more modern men of achievement, and it encourages me to discover that every one of these men found not one, but many such stone walls between him and his goal.

In my own somewhat commonplace career I have encountered many of these stone walls. When I see one of them in front of me I walk up to it and test it was a hammer to make sure that it is not made of mere clay. If I find it to be real stone I then bring up a step-ladder and proceed to climb over it. If I find a spiked fence on top I climb down again and proceed to the right, believing that the wall cannot possibly extend around the earth. If I find the way blocked I turn to the left, hoping to find a passage-way in that direction. If I find the road blocked in that direction I then begin to dig a tunnel under the wall, for it blocks my pathway to achievement and I have to pass!

If I find the wall built on solid rock and no tunnel is possible I then resort to the last means of disposing of the wall, by applying a strong charge of TNT and blowing the thing out of the way. The TNT is also known under another name--Persistence, the twelfth rung of the Magic Ladder to Success.

Source: Napoleon Hill's Magazine. May-June, 1923. Pg. 12. 

Positive Mental Attitude Attributes

by: Napoleon Hill

  Form the habit of tolerance and keep an open mind on all subjects, toward people of all races and creeds. Learn to like people just as they are, instead of demanding of them that they be as you wish them to be.

Recognize that love and affection constitute the finest medicines for both your body and your soul. Love changes the entire chemistry of the body and conditions it for the expression of a positive mental attitude. And love also extends the space you may occupy in the hearts of your fellowmen. And in this connection it is important to remember that while love is free, the best way to receive it is to give it.

Keep a daily diary of your good deeds in behalf of others, and never let the sun set on a single day without recording some act of human kindness. The benefits of this habit will be cumulative and eventually it will give you domain over great spaces in the hearts of your fellowmen. And remember: One good deed each day will keep old man gloom away.

For every favor or benefit you receive give an equal benefit to others. The law of increasing returns will operate in your favor and eventually . . . perhaps very soon . . . it will give you the capacity to get everything you are entitled to receive. A positive mental attitude must have a two-way highway on which to travel, or it will cease to function.

Avoid the fear of old age by remembering that the Creator so blessed man that nothing is ever taken from him without something of equal or greater value is given in return. Through the operation of this profound plan, youth is replaced by wisdom. It may help you to accept and appreciate this truth if you are reminded that the greatest achievements of men usually take place after they are well beyond the age of fifty.

Let your motto be: Deeds, not mere words.

Source: PMA: Science of Success. Pgs. 228 & 229.

Advantages in Going the Extra Mile

by Napoleon Hill 



Some advantages for doing more than one is paid for:

1. The habit of Going the Extra Miles gives one the benefit of the law of Increasing Returns, in a variety of ways too numerous to be described here.
2. This habit places one in a position to benefit by the law of Compensation, through which no act or deed will or can be expressed without an equivalent response (after its own nature).
3. It gives one the benefit of growth through resistance and use, thereby leading to mental development and increased skill in the use of the body. (It is a well-known fact that both body and mind attain efficiency and skill through systematic discipline and use which call for the rendering of service that temporarily is not paid for.)
4. The habit develops the important factor of initiative, without which no individual ever rises above mediocrity in any calling.
5. It develops self-reliance, which is likewise an essential in all forms of personal achievement.
6. It enables an individual to profit by the law of contrast, since obviously a majority of the people do not follow the habit of doing more than they are paid for. On the contrary, they endeavor to "get by" with a minimum amount of service.
7. It helps one to master the habit of drifting aimlessly, thereby checking the habit which stands at the head of the major causes of failure.
8. It definitely aids in development of the habit of Definiteness of Purpose, which is the first principle of individual achievement.
9. It tends strongly to aid in the development of Attractiveness of Personality, thereby leading to the means by which one may relate himself to others so as to gain their friendly cooperation.
10. It often gives an individual a preferred position of relationship with others through which he may become indispensable, thereby fixing his own price on his services.
11. It insures continuous employment, thereby serving as insurance against want in connection with the necessities of life.
12. It is the greatest of all the known methods by which the man who works for wages may promote himself to higher positions and better wages, and serves as a practical means by which a man may attain the position of ownership of a business or industry.
13. It develops alertness of the imagination, the faculty through which one may create practical plans for the attainment of one's aims and purposes in any calling.
14. It develops a positive "mental attitude," which is one of the more important qualities that are essential in all human relationships.
15. It serves to build the confidence of others in one's integrity and general ability, which is an indispensable essential for noteworthy achievement in every calling.
16. Finally, it is a habit which one may adopt and follow on his own initiative, without being under the necessity of asking the permission of anyone to do so.
    Compare these sixteen definite advantages that are available to man, in return for doing more than he is paid for, with the one sole benefit (that of acquiring food necessary for existence) that is available to the other creatures of the earth through the same habit, and you will be forced to the conclusion that overwhelmingly the greater number of benefits enjoyed by man serve as adequate compensation for his development and use of this habit. This comparison substantiates your statement that it is an impossibility for one to do more than one is paid for, and for the very obvious reason that in the mere act of doing that which is constructive one acquires power that can be converted into whatever one desires.
    

Source:  How to Raise Your Own Salary, 1953, Napoleon Hill Associates, A Division of W. Clement Stone Enterprises, Chicago 40, Illinois, pg. 120-122.

Take Time To Be Alone

Take time to be alone

And listen to the earth,

For it has music

For those who listen.

Give to Receive

by Napoleon Hill

Things you give to others, through expression, are the only things you are able to retain, remember, or keep for yourself. Any gems of thought or wisdom which you are anxious to remember, you must repeatedly give to others, or they will elude your grasp at the critical moment. Here is a simple way to test the truth of what has been said. Listen to a good story someone tells you, one worth remembering, one you would like to tell others. Do you know that if you do not tell it to someone right away you will forget it yourself? And do you know that if you do tell it, not only to one person, but to many persons, you will never forget it?

You have heard of the saying, It's better to give than to receive. Here is one place where this is literally and particularly true, because in order to retain the understanding of this or any other subject you are studying, you must give it away to someone else. That is, share it, explain it, pass it along to another person. If you try to hoard it to yourself, you will forget some of the subtle points which may be important at a certain place in your career. Share these principles with others, not the details of your purpose or plan. These details you are cautioned to share only with the greatest discretion and to keep strictly to yourself at certain times.

Giving is a form of expression and giving is living. Let us read a story which perfectly illustrates this point. The story has been adapted from a book by Bruce Barton.

There are two seas in Palestine. One, the Sea of Galilee, is fresh and fish live in it. Trees spread their branches over it and stretch out their thirsty roots to sip of its nourishing water. Christ loved this spot. He looked out across its silver surface when He spoke. And on a rolling plain not far away, He fed 5,000 on loaves and fish from this very sea. The river Jordan fills this sea with sparkling water from the hills and then flows on south into another sea. Here is no splash of fish, no fluttering leaf, no song of bird, no children's laughter. Travelers choose another route unless they are on urgent business. The air hangs heavy above its waters, and neither man nor beast nor fowl will drink of them.

What makes this mighty difference in these neighboring seas? Not the river Jordan. It empties the same good water into both. Not the soil on which they lie; nor the country about. No, none of these; but there is a difference. The Sea of Galilee receives, but does not keep the Jordan. For every drop that flows into it, another drop flows out. The giving and receiving are in equal measure. The other sea is selfish, hoarding its income jealously. Every drop it gets, it keeps. The Sea of Galilee gives and lives. The Dead Sea gives nothing. It is indeed dead. There are two kinds of people in this world – just as there are two seas in Palestine.

In this business of becoming successful, you will find you will need both hands. One hand will be stretched upward, to receive the blessing of Infinite Intelligence, with the other extended down and outward, sharing and giving to others who are helping you in the climb. No one ever achieved outstanding success without the cooperation of others; and you realize, of course, that you must give something in return for this cooperation.

Source: PMA Science of Success Educational Edition. Pgs. 23 & 24.

Climb Over Your Failures

by Napoleon Hill               


There are exceptions to this rule; a few people know from experience the soundness of persistence. They are the ones who have not accepted defeat as being anything more than temporary. They are the ones whose desires are so persistently applied that defeat is finally changed into victory. We who stand on the side-lines of life see the overwhelmingly large number who go down in defeat, never to rise again. We see the few who take the punishment of defeat as an urge to greater effort. These, fortunately, never learn to accept life's reverse gear. But what we do not see, what most of use never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement. If we speak of this power at all we call it persistence, and let it go at that.  One thing we all know, if one does not possess persistence, one does not achieve noteworthy success in any calling.


As these lines are being written, I look up from my work, and see before me, less than a block away, the great mysterious Broadway, the "Graveyard of Dead Hopes," and the "Front Porch of Opportunity." From all over the world people have come to Broadway, seeing fame, fortune, power, love, or whatever it is that human beings call success. Once in a great while someone steps out from the long procession of seekers, and the world hears that another person has mastered Broadway. But Broadway is not easily nor quickly conquered. She acknowledges talent, recognizes genius, pays off in money, only after one has refused to quit.


Then we know he has discovered the secret of how to conquer Broadway. The secret is always inseparably attached to one word, persistence!


Source: Think and Grow Rich. Ballantine Books. 1996. Pg. 155.

Look on the Bright Side

By Brian Tracy

The most important application of the law of cause and effect in your life is this: thoughts are causes, and conditions are effects. What this means is that your thought is creative. You create your world by the way you think. Nothing in your world has any meaning except for the meaning you give by how you think about it and talk about it. If you don't care about something, it has no effect on your emotions and actions.

How to be Happy
Many thousands of people have been interviewed over the years to find out what they think about most of the time. Can you guess what the most successful and happy people think about all day long? The answer is simple. Happy healthy people think about what they want, and how to get it, most of the time. When you think and talk about what you want, and how to get it, you feel happier and in greater control of your life.

How to be Unhappy
What do unhappy people think and talk about most of the time? Unfortunately, they think and talk about things they don't want. They think and talk about their problems and pains, and the people they don't like. Sometimes, their whole lives revolve around their complaints and criticisms. And the more they think and talk about what they don't want, the unhappier they become.

The Most Important Quality
Based on many psychological tests, the happiest people seem to have a special quality that enables them to live a better life than average. Can you guess what it is? It is the quality of optimism! The best news about optimism is that it is a learnable quality. You can learn to be a more positive, confident, and optimistic person by thinking the way optimists do—most of the time.


Look for the Good
Optimists seem to have different ways of dealing with the world that set them apart from the average. First, as we mentioned, they keep their minds on what they want, and keep looking for ways to get it. They are clear about their goals and they are confident that they will accomplish them, sooner or later. Second, optimists look for the good in every problem or difficulty. When things go wrong, as they often do, they say, "That's good!" and then set about finding something positive about the situation.

Seek the Valuable Lesson
The third quality of optimists is that they seek the valuable lesson in every setback or reversal. Rather than getting upset and blaming someone else for what has happened, they take control over their emotions by saying, "What can I learn from this experience?" Fully 95% of everything you do is determined by your habits, good or bad. When you repeatedly look for the good and seek the valuable lesson in every obstacle or disappointment, you very soon develop the habit of thinking like an optimist. As a result, you feel happier, healthier, and more in control of your world.

The Body-Mind Connection
More and more doctors are coming to the conclusion that 80% or more of all diseases and ailments are psychosomatic in origin. This means that "psycho," the mind, makes "soma," the body, sick. You do not get sick from what you are eating, but from what is eating you.

Action Exercise
Resolve from now on to see your glass of life half full rather than half empty. Give thanks for your many blessings in life rather than worrying or complaining about the things you do not have. Assume the best of intentions on the part of everyone around you.

Know Your Own Mind, Live Your Own Life

by Dr. Napoleon Hill

Somewhere along the path of life, every successful man finds out how to live his own life as he wishes to live it.

The younger you are when you discover this mighty power, the more likely you are to live successfully and happily. Yet even in later years, many make the great change—from letting others make them what they are, to making sure that they make their lives to their own liking.

The Creator gave man the prerogative of power over his own mind. It must have been the Creator's purpose to encourage man to live his own life, think his own thoughts, find his own goals and achieve them. Simply by exercising this profound prerogative you can bring abundance into your life, and with it know the greatest wealth of all, peace of mind, without which there can be no real happiness.

You live in a world filled with outside influences which impinge upon you. You are influenced by other people's acts and wishes, by law and custom, by your duties and your responsibilities. Everything you do has some effect upon others, as do their actions upon you. And yet you must find out how to live your own life, use your own mind, go on toward the dream you wish to make real and solid. Know thyself, said the ancient Greek philosophers, and this remains key advice for the man who would be in all ways wealthy. Without knowing yourself and being yourself, you cannot truly use the one Great Secret which gives you power to mold your future and make life carry you the way you want to go.

Let us then take off on our trip to Happy Valley!

Do not think of me as a back-seat driver. Rather, you are at the wheel and I merely call your attention to a trustworthy road map whereon the main highway is marked beyond questions. On your journey to riches and peace of mind, the road grows smoother and straighter as you travel.



Source: Napoleon Hill. Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind. Fawcett Edition. 1967. Pg. 9 & 10.

The Character of Success

A part of this philosophy is that adversity is good for us! The person who really ought to be pitied is the one who grows up with a "silver spoon" in his mouth, with a rich dad and no responsibilities! It's a safe bet that such a person will never be a very strong competitor of the individual who has had to fight hard for every foot of ground that he or she has covered.


No, it is not wealth that makes a person—it is character, persistence and a strong determination to be of service to the world! You might as well understand now that your real success will be measured and determined by the quantity and quality of service that you render the world! There is no guesswork, no luck or chance about this. It's according to nature's own laws.

You may be wealthy, but that isn't success! You may have a splendid education, but that isn't success either. You may have wealthy parents, but neither is that success, for you must remember that wealth is an evasive thing which sometimes takes wings and flies away.

The only real, permanent and worthwhile success is represented by the character you are building!

And remember that you are building some sort of a character all the time. The chances are about ten to one that if you are devoting some of your time to self-improvement, developing self-confidence and self-control, you are building a character that will be an asset to you in years to come.

Character is built slowly, step by step. Your every thought and every act goes into it. Character is the crystallization of the things you do, the words you speak and the thoughts you think! If you think about worthwhile things, you are pretty much apt to be a worthwhile person.

You can be pretty much what you want to be if your will keep your mind on the one thing you want to be long enough. Remember, I said if you try hard enough—not if you wish hard enough.

We should never complain if success does not come easily. If it did, we might not recognize it when it arrived! I have no complaint to register against fate for taking me over the pathway of hard experience. I have no kick to register against the world for the rough manner in which it has used me. An easy time in life doesn't seem to leave the proper temper in the metal. No one wants to cash a check on the Easy-Time Bank. The world is afraid of it.

The world is waiting for men and women who are seeking the opportunity to render real service—the kind of service that lightens the burdens of our neighbors; the kind of service that makes the world a better place to live in; the kind of service that ninety-five people out of a hundred to not render because they do not understand it. Shakespeare was right when he said, "our only sin is that of ignorance."



Source: Excerpted from the 1919 issue of Hill's Golden Rule Magazine as appearing in the Think and Grow Rich Newsletter, July 1993, Volume 5, Number 10, pg. 7.

Serving Others Will Help You

by Napoleon Hill

One of the surest ways to achieve your own success in life is by helping others to attain theirs. Almost anyone can contribute money toward those less fortunate. But the truly affluent person is the one who can afford to give of himself, of his time and energy, to the benefit of others. In so doing he enriches himself beyond measure.
John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia merchant king, once said that the most profitable habit was that of "rendering useful service where it is not expected." And Edward Bok, the great editor of Ladies Home Journal, said he rose from poverty to wealth through the practice of "making myself useful to others without regard to what I received in return."


Helping Takes Effort
It takes a conscious effort to give your time and energy to others. You can't simply say, "All right, I'm willing to help anyone who needs my help." You must make a creative project of rendering service to your fellow man.
Perhaps some down-to-earth examples will help you think of ways you can win friends by helping others. There was, for instance, a merchant in an eastern city who built a successful business through a very simple process. Every hour or so one of his clerks checked the parking meters near the store.


Pennies Win Friends
When the clerk spotted an "expired" sign, he dropped a penny in the slot, and attached a note to the car telling the owner that the merchant was pleased to protect him against the inconvenience of a traffic ticket. Many motorists dropped in to thank the merchant—and remained to buy. The owner of a big Boston men's store inserts a neatly printed card in the pocket of each suit he sells, It tells the purchaser that if he finds the suit satisfactory, he may bring the card back after six months and exchange it for any necktie he chooses. Naturally, the buyer always comes back pleased with the suit—and is a ripe prospect for another sale.
The highest paid woman employee of the Bankers Trust Co. in New York City got her start by offering to work three months without pay in order to demonstrate her executive ability. And Butler Stork gave of himself so freely as a prisoner in the Ohio State Penitentiary that he was released, beating a 20-year sentence for forgery. Stork organized a correspondence school that taught more than 1,000 inmates a variety of courses without charge to them or the state. He even induced the International Correspondence School to donate textbooks. The plan attracted so much attention that Stork was given his freedom as a reward.


Put Your Own Mind to Work
Assess your own ability and energy. Who need your help? How can you help them? It doesn't take money. All it takes is ingenuity and a strong desire to be of genuine service. Helping others solve their problems will help you solve your own.


Source: You Can Work Your Own Miracles. Fawcett-Columbine Book. Published by Ballantine Books. 1971. Pgs. 144 – 146.